𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐧𝐢𝐚 | 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 ✓

Chapter 17: Not your enemy

A/n: Someone special will enter earlier then in the movies ;), any guesses? 

"Your abilities really come in handy most of the time," Natasha commented, tapping on the clear glass in front of them. 

"Why, thank you," Nora said, a smirk gracing her lips before she turned toward the man with the white coat, who was tied to a chair, vines swirling around him, their sharp points grazing his skin, enough to draw blood and if he moved, then to stab through too. "So, Doc, are you going to open this willingly, or do I have to take out your eyeball?" she asked, a holographic screen shining behind her. 

The gruff man gulped before he nodded, the holographic screen scanning his retina, as a ding sound resonated in the room, signaling the access to the door. 

"Be careful, Natasha," Nora said, her eyes trailing toward the glass that led to the children kept inside, "they might attack if they consider you a threat," 

"Are you underestimating me?" Natasha asked, with mock offense, her eyes betraying the amusement she was trying to hide. 

"Will not think about it," Nora said, raising her hands in mock surrender, "you get them out, I will get the data," she said, as she loaded her gun, shooting the doctor. 

"Alright,"

Nora's steps were calculated as she moved with precision across the dark halls that were only illuminated by the flickering lights. She stopped around a corner, her gun held firmly in hand, as she glanced around to see two men pacing back and forth across her destination-- the door to the main server room. For a second, she contemplates whether to use the metal in her hand or her powers, before with a quick motion, she shoot them both, preferring to not use her powers until necessary. 

As she stepped over the dead bodies to the room, her gaze briefly flickered toward the security cameras that were blinking along the dark corners, too bad they were all hacked for the next fifteen minutes as to not alert other agents, until Natasha gets the kids out of that hellish place. 

"And that's where this comes in work," she said to herself, as she snapped her fingers, the green vines entangled on the supposedly doctor body, dragged him there, his shoulders slumped indicating his loss of soul. Her gloved hand grabbed his hand putting it on the scanner, as the door opened with a ding.

The door slides open, revealing rows of towering servers, their blinking LEDs casting an otherworldly glow. The room smells faintly of ozone and technology—a scent that clings to the walls like a secret.

Nora approaches the main server, its sleek surface adorned with blinking status lights. She inserts a nondescript pen drive—the drive clicks into place, and the transfer begins. Lines of code stream across the holographic interface projected onto her retina—a digital dance of ones and zeros.

Her eyes scan the filenames as they zip past: Project Cerberus, Operation Hydra, Quantum Encryption Protocols. But then, amidst the mundane labels, one catches her attention: 

"Winter Soldier."

Nora hesitates, her gloved fingers hovering over the holographic display before clicking on it, in background the files continue to zip past on the pen-drive, getting stored in the pen-drive, while her eyes glanced toward all of the screens opened with the name. 

Her eyes widened, when scrolling through the files, she found the photo and name of the supposedly 'Winter soldier'. James Buchanan Barnes—the name etched in digital ink send a shock to her. 

She swallows, her mind racing as she read the program he had been forced to comply to, The Winter Soldier—the assassin who haunted history, a ghost in the shadows. Brainwashed, reprogrammed, and unleashed upon the world was Steve's best friend. A victim to the cruelty of HYDRA, just like her.